Round-robin test on thermal conductivity measurement of ZnO nanofluids and comparison of experimental results with theoretical bounds

• Published in: Nanoscale research letters Vol. 6; no. 1; p. 258
• Main Authors: Lee, Wook-Hyun, Rhee, Chang-Kyu, Koo, Junemo, Lee, Jaekeun, Jang, Seok Pil, Choi, Stephen US, Lee, Ki-Woong, Bae, Hwa-Young, Lee, Gyoung-Ja, Kim, Chang-Kyu, Hong, Sung Wook, Kwon, Younghwan, Kim, Doohyun, Kim, Soo Hyung, Hwang, Kyo Sik, Kim, Hyun Jin, Ha, Hyo Jun, Lee, Seung-Hyun, Choi, Chul Jin, Lee, Ji-Hwan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer New York 25.03.2011; BioMed Central Ltd; Springer; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Chemistry and Materials Science; Materials Science; Molecular Medicine; Nano Express; Nanochemistry; Nanofluids; Nanoscale Science and Technology; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology and Microengineering; Maxwell Model; Effective Thermal Conductivity; Base Fluid; Thermal Conductivity; Thermal Conductivity Measurement
• ISSN: 1556-276X; 1931-7573; 1556-276X
• DOI: 10.1186/1556-276X-6-258

Ethylene glycol (EG)-based zinc oxide (ZnO) nanofluids containing no surfactant have been manufactured by one-step pulsed wire evaporation (PWE) method. Round-robin tests on thermal conductivity measurements of three samples of EG-based ZnO nanofluids have been conducted by five participating labs, four using accurate measurement apparatuses developed in house and one using a commercial device. The results have been compared with several theoretical bounds on the effective thermal conductivity of heterogeneous systems. This study convincingly demonstrates that the large enhancements in the thermal conductivities of EG-based ZnO nanofluids tested are beyond the lower and upper bounds calculated using the models of the Maxwell and Nan et al. with and without the interfacial thermal resistance.